Playlist Mix 37 Goes Live

Recording in a studio with no lights is no fun. Just like stubbing your toe is no fun. When you do the two together and podcast in the dark, it’s bound to become a little interesting.

As I wait on this week’s KilkennyMusic.com podcast to upload I point you in the direction of the 37th Playlist Mix podcast featuring this 90s reggae-loving gem (above), Pato Banton.

The 37th podcast brings you another 30 minutes or so of podsafe and independent music, six acts, six tracks and some background in between. It arrived online later than expected, due to unforeseen technical difficulties with lights, a crashing browser and ultimately electricity but it’s there for all to grab now.

You can download here (about 28mb) or stream below. You can also check out PlaylistMix.com for the podcast archives, see past shows and subscribe via the feed (opens iTunes) to find out what I’ve been listening to during the week and just what’s been hitting my inbox.

Playlist Mix 37

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Playlist Mix 36 Released

They Playlist Mix podcast series returned two weeks ago after a light summer break and I’ve just released the 36th Playlist Mix this evening, a little earlier than usual.

I’m doing well of late in the battle to set a definite finishing time work-wise during the day so I can free up more time in the evenings. More time in the evenings means earlier podcasts, earlier to bed and less of a fight with myself on a Wednesday morning before phoning into the PodCamp Ireland podcast show.

It was PodCamp Ireland last year in Kilkenny that gave me the much needed kick to put the Playlist Mix on course and since last October I’ve managed to release 32 podcasts. I’d be looking at close to 50 had it not been for the serious lack of any evening-time in the summer thanks to producing and acting in two back-to-back performances from May to August with this devious bunch.

As always on the podcast there’s six tracks from six different acts with music this week coming from Vesta Varro, Planet Rewind, This Is Fiction, Annie Golliath, Satellite State and Ro Tierney who I had as a guest at the One Take Sessions in Kilkenny last year.

I’ll be catching Vesta Varro in action in Kilkenny this weekend but until then, enjoy the podcast. Comments always appreciated

The podcast has also been longlisted / nominated for Best Podcast at the 2008 Irish Web Awards, another fine night in store for the Irish web community this October 11th in Dublin.

Playlist Mix Podcast #36 - Download @ 27mb

Podcasting Takes Time, But They’re Coming Back

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m currently ‘Smitten‘. In a pure theatrical sense that is. Since the third week of May this year for three nights a week or more, plus weekends (taken up with theatre and gigs) I’ve been spending my nights at a variety of rehearsal venues, nights I had previously dedicated to other things I thoroughly enjoy such as the Sound System Podcast and the Playlist Mix.

Now that we’ve hit show week on our second of three productions for the year I can look forward to having my evenings come back and getting into the podcasting groove again.

There’s a perk in this for me as for the third production, I’m looking at producing a radio play. We had been speaking to one radio station to look at carrying the play in October but whether the show goes across the airwaves or not, we’re going to be releasing it as part of a short series of podcasts from the theatre company, a nice way for us (as the theatre company) to embrace podcasting and reach a new audience.

What I’m also looking forward to is returning to the Playlist Mix (Tuesday nights) and the Sound System Podcast with KilkennyMusic.com (Wednesday nights). Producing podcasts, the way we’ve gotten into producing them, can take anywhere up to 3 hours if you allow a half hour for pre-production and notes.

While the Playlist Mix will return with it’s regular and healthy dose of podsafe music, the Sound System Podcast will be showcasing highlights from gigs since May this year, for the first few shows with five weeks worth of live music to offer (20 live tracks) though an overall format change has not yet been decided by myself and co-host Ross Costigan.

Thanks to my theatrical commitments and weekend engagements, three hours is a lot to ask when you’re in “show mode”. So from the first week of September, both podcasts (which collectively have almost reached the 90-mark in the last year) will be returning to an iTunes store near you.

More From The Playlist Mix

I’ve hit podcast #32 in the Playlist Mix series and it’s been a while since I flagged it here on the blog.

If you’ve never heard of the Playlist Mix Podcast (possible if you’re a new reader!), it is a weekly podcast I release running 30 minutes or less and featuring six independent or podsafe acts from around the world.

I gather music from the Podsafe Music Network, Garageband, CD submissions from acts I work with in Ireland and through KilkennyMusic.com and ultimately, email submissions from listeners and bands alike. The mix is rather eclectic. My own listening habits are by no means genre specific. If you had stopped me in traffic this morning you’d catch me with some downtempo jazz on; into the office and I’m in rock mode; out and about and I’m fuelled by indie or reggae tunes.

To that extent, each week’s mix is often a reflection of what I’ve been listening to as well as a means to showcase new tracks and artists arriving in my inbox. I’m not much of a fan of day-time radio so when I’m on the road I like to have a short mix of tunes with me - a 30-minute weekly dose of the Playlist Mix tends to do the trick for me

The latest podcast was released yesterday with music from Plunkett, The Riot Before, Ghostface Killah and more… have a listen below, click here to subscribe via iTunes or check PlaylistMix.com for previous shows.

Playlist Mix #32 (Download @ 27mb, 128kbps)

More From The Playlist Mix Podcast (And Podcasting)

The 27th Playlist Mix podcast has gone live and it marks (at least technically) a full year since the launch of the podcast. Granted, after three shows I took the bones of five months away from the podcast to decide whether or not I would make a full run of it but having revived the podcast in October last, it has become a weekly habit of mine and I’m delighted I decided to press ahead.

Such to the point that my 2008 diary (I keep a physical diary for the music / theatre side of life) is marked with podcast recording dates straight up to the end of December which should see the Playlist Mix having well passed the 50-show mark and the Sound System Podcast having passed the 70 or 80 show mark, that podcast too having gone weekly late last year.

There is an element of ease at this point in recording a solo podcast, the gremlins instead tending to hold off until the Wednesday night when the Sound System Podcast records for KilkennyMusic.com (listeners to both podcast shows might realise).

The transition from working in Adobe Audition to working in ProTools has been a slow one. The last two weekends away in Sligo have given me time to toy around with different recording setups, discover the ins and outs of the various plugins at my disposal, find out where things are hidden in the menus, learn off a few keyboard shortcuts, that kind of thing. But, I’m adapting.

From a podcasting point of view I will say that I’m delighted with the purchase of the Mbox 2 (Factory bundle) from Digidesign. It’s a purchase I had been toying with for far too long but its sheer portability (lighter and more suited to a podcasting environment compared to the Digidesign 002 rack we used in the live environment) is worth the investment. It’s lightweight, fits in my laptop bag or backpack (depending on the setting), packs 2 XLR / line / DI inputs as well as phantom power for the condenser (which I must get back!). The fact that it’s powered via USB as well helps portability matters, meaning there’s room for high quality recordings wherever I wind up.

Given the nature of the One Take Sessions and recordings for their respective podcasts it’s a certainty it will be travelling with me every three weeks to the venue (it will actually be there tonight as well as we welcome Bonnefires, John O’Hanlon, Nassau Royal and Joey Ryan to Kilkenny - Cleere’s Theatre tonight at 9:30pm).

Anyway, check out PlaylistMix.com for this week’s podcast or see the links below to play / download.

Playlist Mix Podcast #27 (Download @ 26mb)